Graduation Surprise
by teej.318
Summary: It's The Losers Club's graduation day and Richie has a huge surprise in store for Eddie.


Richie hurried out through the front door as soon as he saw the mailman pull up to the Tozier mailbox. He was relieved that the family's mail arrived early in the mornings. Though he normally wouldn't go to check the mail unless his parents asked him to, Richie had been checking the mail obsessively for the past week, waiting on an important letter. The letter would be a follow up to another he had gotten two weeks ago and Richie was starting to get nervous that it wasn't going to arrive on time.

Once the mailman had drove off, Richie opened the mailbox as quickly as he could and reached inside. He shuffled through the pile of mail quickly and was overcome with relief when he saw a letter addressed to him. It was the one he was waiting for.

Richie yelped slightly and ran back inside. He threw the other mail down on the countertop in the kitchen before ripping open his letter. He read the first line.

_Dear Richard Tozier,_

_In regards to your request submitted on May 13th, we are pleased to inform you that your housing request has been approved._

Richie squealed when he finished reading that line. He hugged the letter close to his chest and started to dance around the kitchen, forgetting that his parents were probably still sleeping. As if on cue, Maggie and Went appeared in the kitchen after about two minutes of Richie celebrating.

"Whoa, what's going on here?" Went asked.

"I finally heard back!" Richie exclaimed.

"And?" Maggie prompted.

Richie nodded.

"They accepted it!"

"Oh, honey, that's wonderful!" Maggie said as she hurried over and took her son in her arms.

Richie hugged his mother back enthusiastically while his father beamed at him. When they broke apart, Richie handed his mother the letter and she read it.

"When are you gonna tell him?" Maggie asked.

"I was thinking of doing it tonight while we're celebrating. I'll sneak him away upstairs and I'll show him the other letter too."

Maggie smiled at Richie's excited expression and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"He's gonna be so happy, Richie. And I know you are, too."

"I can't wait to see his face!"

"Well you won't be seeing it if you don't walk at graduation, son," Went said in a cross tone, though he was smiling. "You'd better get upstairs and hop in the shower and get ready. We don't wanna be late for your high school graduation!"

* * *

Richie glanced around the gathering of students graduating from Derry High, searching for the rest of The Losers. Finally, he spotted Bev's red hair and ran over to his friends.

"About time you got here!" Eddie chastised. "We were getting worried you were gonna miss the ceremony!

Richie grinned at Eddie, who was dressed immaculately in his graduation robes.

"Of course I wasn't gonna miss it, Eds, but not my fault there's no parking out there."

"This is why you should've gotten here sooner," Eddie said impatiently before he gave Richie a kiss on the cheek.

Richie smiled as he returned the gesture to Eddie. He was beaming at the rest of The Losers and he must've looked happier than normal because everyone seemed to notice.

"What's up, Richie?" Bev asked. "You look like you're super excited about something."

"You'd better not be planning some epic senior prank!" Stan exclaimed, looking angry all of a sudden.

"Staniel, you slay me! Why would I, Trashmouth Tozier, come up with a senior prank when the biggest prank I'm pulling is actually graduating from this shithole school?"

"H-h-he's got a p-p-point," Bill said. Though his stutter had gotten better over the years, it still resurfaced during moments when Bill was feeling overwhelmed by something, his high school graduation being one of those moments.

"Seriously, though, you look super happy," Ben observed. "You get some good news or something?"

"Maybe," Richie teased as the assistant principal yelled for them to line up to enter the auditorium to begin the ceremony.

The Losers all lined up. Since Mike was home schooled, he was not with them, but they knew he'd be in the audience watching them happily. And with just six of them, they were all guaranteed to have a walking partner. Bill and Stan would walk together, followed by Ben and Bev, with Richie and Eddie bringing up the rear of their group.

Once in place, Eddie nudged Richie on the shoulder.

"You know, the others are right, you do look really happy about something," he observed. "It's nice to see you like this, but I didn't know you were this excited about graduating."

"It's not just graduation I'm excited about," Richie said in a thoughtful tone. He then lowered his voice. "I've got a surprise for you, Eds. I think you're really gonna love it."

"A surprise?" Eddie asked, raising his eyebrows. "What kind of surprise? You'd better not be planning on yelling a 'Your Mom' joke at me when I cross the stage, asshole!"

Richie giggled at Eddie's rage-filled face.

"Oh, Eddie Spaghetti, it's nothing like that, I promise. Although now you mention it..."

"Beep, beep, Richie!"

"All right, all right," Richie said, holding his hands up on mock surrender. "I won't yell how much I love Mrs. K when you walk the stage. But seriously, Eds, I have a great big surprise for you and I'm gonna give it to you tonight when everyone comes over for our Losers graduation party."

"What is it?" Eddie asked as the graduation music started to play and the line of graduating seniors started to file into the auditorium.

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you, Eddie! But I promise you're gonna love it!"

"Ugh, why'd you have to tell me now? I'm gonna be thinking about it all during the ceremony!"

"Maybe you should focus on not tripping over your robes, Eds," Richie said with a grin.

Eddie rolled his eyes.

"Fine, I'll wait, but I won't be happy about it."

Richie grinned as he and Eddie started walking into the auditorium. The journey seemed to last an eternity, but they finally made it to their chairs, grinning and waving at Mike in the stands as they passed by him. Richie tuned out most of the speeches, not interested in any of the bullshit motivational words the principal, superintendent or the class president had to give. He knew where he was going with his future and he couldn't be happier about it.

Finally, the time came for them to walk up to the stage to receive their diplomas. As the rest of the Losers took their diplomas and walked the stage, Richie called out a greeting for them all.

"Yeah, Big Bill!"

"Stan the man!"

"Bev, my love!"

"Ben, heart of gold!"

Richie's name was then called. He hurried to the principal with his hand outstretched and shook hands before accepting his diploma. Richie then quickly shook hands with the others on stage before he reached the end of the stage just as Eddie's name was called.

Richie spun around and yelled for Eddie, too.

"Go, Eddie Spaghetti!"

Richie laughed at Eddie's facial expression. Eddie looked pissed, but Richie could tell Eddie was trying hard not to smile. Once Eddie took his diploma, they heard Mike shouting with a small megaphone he had brought with him.

"Losers Club forever!"

Richie and Eddie giggled as they walked off the stage together. The rest of The Losers were waiting off the side of the stage. Stan had smuggled in his selfie stick and was holding it in his hands. Once Richie and Eddie had joined the others, they all posed for a quick selfie before they hurried back to their seats, ignoring the angry looks of the teachers who stared at them as they walked past.

* * *

Bill stood up in the Tozier living room. He was holding a solo cup in his hand. Everyone quieted down when they saw Bill take his place in the center of the living room.

"I j-j-just wanna say how p-proud I am of everyone," Bill said in a shaky voice. "We d-d-d-did it guys. We graduated!"

Everyone in the room, including parents and siblings, cheered loudly. Georgie cheered the loudest and was beaming at Bill brightly as he always did.

"To the Losers Club," Bill said, raising his cup in a toast.

"The Losers Club!" everyone echoed, raising their cups and taking a drink of them.

"Now, let's party!" Richie shouted from the back of the living room. He picked up a remote and turned on the stereo system, which started playing music.

Everyone stood up from their seats and started dancing to the music. All except Eddie, who was smiling as he watched everyone else dance. Richie noticed this and was privately relieved. He was hoping to use this opportunity to get Eddie alone to give him his gift. Richie downed the rest of his drink and took a deep breath before he approached Eddie.

"Eds, can we get out of here for a minute and go upstairs?" Richie whispered into Eddie's ear.

Eddie frowned at him.

"It's so I can give you your surprise."

"Oh!" Eddie exclaimed, nodding fervently.

Richie smiled at Eddie and held out his hand. Eddie took it and laced their fingers together. Richie led Eddie through the living room, being ignored by everyone else. That is, until they reached the stairs.

"Where are you going, guys?" Georgie asked, walking over to them.

"We'll be right back, Georgie," Richie said, giving Georgie a smile. "It'll just take us a minute upstairs and then we'll come back."

"Well you'd better cause I wanna dance with everyone!"

Richie and Eddie smiled as Georgie disappeared into the crowd of the living room. They hurried up the stairs. Once they could hear each other properly over the music, Richie turned to Eddie.

"You gotta love that kid," he said as he opened his bedroom door.

Eddie chuckled.

"Yeah, you do. I love how he's adopted all of us as his older siblings. Makes me kinda glad I'm an only child. I wouldn't want anyone else as a little brother."

"You've got that right, Eds," Richie said, gesturing for Eddie to sit down on the bed.

Eddie sat down while Richie walked over to his desk. He picked up the letter he had received that morning and a small package that was wrapped in green paper. Richie walked over to the bed and handed Eddie the package first.

"This is my graduation present for you, Eddie," Richie explained.

"'Chee, you didn't have to get me anything," Eddie said in a soft tone. "I didn't get you anything!"

"It's okay, Eds. I don't mind. Besides, seeing your reaction when you open this will be a gift enough for me."

"Well aren't you a sap?" Eddie teased.

"Shut up and open it."

Eddie grinned as he ripped off the wrapping paper. Inside was a small frame that contained a letter in it. Eddie frowned before he read the letter.

_Dear Richard Tozier,_

_We are pleased to inform you of your acceptance San Diego State University. Congratulations on your accomplishment! Your hard work in high school has certainly paid off._

_The fall semester begins on Aug. 21. We await your acceptance form by no later than May 31. The acceptance form can be found on the SDSU website where you applied to be a student._

_Orientation for freshmen begins on August 1. You will be assigned a three-day term for orientation upon the university receiving your acceptance form. You may move into university housing beginning August 1, regardless of your term for orientation._

_Again, congratulations on this wonderful accomplishment! We look forward to seeing you on campus this fall!_

Eddie's mouth had opened in shock when he read the later. When he was finished, he glanced up at Richie, who was smiling widely at him.

"Surprised?" Richie asked.

Eddie simply stared back at Richie with wide eyes.

"I thought you would be, Eds," Richie said. "I didn't tell you where I was applying to school because I wanted to wait until I knew where you were going for sure. Once you did, I applied at SDSU so we could go to school together."

Still, Eddie said nothing. He stared at Richie for a few seconds before he flung himself onto Richie and hugged him tightly.

"Oh my god," Eddie said as he started to cry. "Richie, I can't believe you did this for me!"

"I had to Eds," Richie replied as he held Eddie tightly. "I didn't want us to do the long-distance thing, so I waited until you knew where you were going. Either way, I was going with you, but now we're gonna attend college together! And I have another surprise for you."

Eddie pulled out of the hug and wiped away some of his tears.

"What is it?"

"Another letter," Richie said, holding up the letter he had received that morning but he tossed it to the side with his acceptance letter. "I made a request to have an apartment on campus with a roommate of my choosing. Of course, that roommate is gonna be you, Eds. And they approved it."

"Oh, Richie!" Eddie exclaimed as he threw himself onto Richie again.

Richie let out a small "Oof" as he hugged Eddie back. They held onto each other tightly for several moments as they both cried tears of joy. Finally, they broke apart and stared at each other before Eddie leaned forward and kissed Richie, who was delighted that Eddie had made the first move on this night.

"I love you so much, Richie," Eddie said when they broke the kiss, and he pressed their foreheads together.

"I love you, too, Eddie," Richie replied. "I always have and I always will. And I can't wait to live with you."

"Me neither."


End file.
